Issue 060

March 2010

Everyone loves a big upset, except perhaps the betting favorite with the bruised ego, battered face and a new ‘1’ in their loss column. For everyone else, there’s nothing quite like that ‘holy shit’ reaction when something that clearly wasn’t ‘supposed to happen’ takes place in the cage or ring. This month, Andrew Garvey recalls five of the biggest and most memorable upsets in the sport’s history. 

?1 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, 

Pride 33, February 24, 2007

On paper, this looked like a serious mismatch. An unknown Cameroonian judoka with a 2-1 record in MMA, Sokoudjou faced one of the sport’s most respected 200lb fighters. Going into the fight, Rogerio had beaten the likes of Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem and pushed Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua to the very limit, but the Brazilian was flattened by this near-mystery opponent in just 23 seconds. Quoted as a 15-1 underdog by at least one sportsbook, the African stunned the MMA world by destroying Minotoro so quickly and emphatically. One of the most shocking upsets in the sport’s history, this marked the first time either of the iron-chinned Nogueira brothers had been knocked out in MMA competition. Nowhere near as shocking, but still a major upset, Sokoudjou flattened another highly ranked Brazilian, Ricardo Arona, six weeks later.

2 Matt Hughes vs BJ Penn, 

UFC 46, January 31, 2004 

A clear underdog, Penn’s audacious title challenge irritated Hughes, as the Illinois farm boy apparently felt the chubby-cheeked Hawaiian was “disrespecting” him by moving up from lightweight to challenge for the belt. Hughes has always shown visible disdain for his opponents, and on this occasion he seemed to have good reason. As skilled as BJ was, he had already failed in two lightweight title attempts – dropping a decision to Hughes’ teammate Jens Pulver and battling to a draw with Caol Uno. And now, giving up well over 20lb at bell time, he was facing a champion who had rattled off five dominant title defenses. But then the unthinkable happened: Penn simply owned Hughes from start to first-round finish, putting on one of the most dazzling and surprising showings of his entire career.  

3 Mirko Cro Cop vs Kevin Randleman, 

Pride: Total Elimination, April 25, 2004

As memorable for commentator Mauro Ranallo’s repeated screams of “Kevin Randleman just knocked out Mirko Cro Cop!” as for the short and stunning fight itself, many saw this as one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history. Bulling Cro Cop into the corner, Randleman did nothing of any note but when they were separated he simply exploded with the greatest left hook of his life, and pounced to deliver a few hammerfists and the 117-second KO victory. What made it so shocking was that Randleman was coming off two losses and was more generally mired in a run of deeply unimpressive performances, while Cro Cop had obliterated some quality-heavyweights, putting together an exceptional highlight reel in the process.  

4 Mark Coleman vs Maurice Smith 

UFC 14, July 27, 1997 

“He punches like a girl” was hardly the most creative pre-fight trash-talk, but it helped Smith to victory against the then terrifying Coleman, relieving the 1992 US Olympic wrestler of the UFC heavyweight title. Favorite Coleman had rattled off five brutal victories in winning the UFC 10 and 11 tournaments and then disposed of Dan Severn with a nasty neck crank to lift the belt. Former world kickboxing champion Smith had amassed an average record in Japan before winning the Extreme Fighting Championships title in late ‘96. When EFC went under and matchmaker John Peretti joined the UFC, Smith-Coleman was an obvious ‘unification’ match. Smith used his precise striking and defensive technique, an active guard, superior conditioning and a more patient, cerebral approach to outsmart and outlast an enraged, and before long totally exhausted, Coleman, taking a shocking but truly well-earned decision. 

5 Georges St Pierre vs Matt Serra, 

UFC 69, April 7, 2007

A tough veteran with an excellent BJJ pedigree and the welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback, Matt Serra first fought on a UFC event in 2001, almost a year before GSP’s MMA debut. But the mouthy New Yorker was almost considered a joke challenger for the French-Canadian star’s UFC welterweight title. Handed the opportunity for winning the reality show (where he just about squeaked past Chris Lytle in the final), Serra was a 9-1 underdog but he left Houston, Texas with the belt after catching the champion out with a barrage of hefty punches for a truly incredible first-round TKO win.